Category: Eat Healthy, Be Wealthy

Posted on

Pan de Plátano – Banana Bread

Banana Bread contains a lot of proteins as it has oats and banana. It is better when the bananas are ripe as it is easier to smash them, and they taste better when they are mixed with all the ingredients.

Not many desserts, or afternoon snacks have positive “side-effects”, but here are some for banana bread:

   It helps to reduce cholesterol
   It has a great supply of vitamins
   It reduces fatigue and tiredness
   It stimulates the nervous system and the intestinal function
   It helps in weight loss
   It is rich in antioxidants
   It is probiotic
   It prevents hypothyroidism and helps with bronchitis

Pan de Plátano - Banana Bread
Print

Pan de Plátano – Banana Bread

Recipe by ESCourse: Sides, Breakfast
Servings

5

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

50

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 banana

  • 1 egg

  • 75 gr oats

  • 40 gr brown sugar

  • 1 tsp of baking powder

  • 38 gr of melted butter

  • splash of vanilla extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 180° C
  • In a blender, blend the oats until it has the texture of flour and keep them aside for later.
  • In a bowl, smash with a fork the peeled banana.
  • Melt the butter until it is liquid, add it to the bowl (where there is the mashed banana), and mix it.
  • Add to the bowl the egg, the brown sugar and a splash of vanilla extract and mix it.
  • Take a strainer, place it on top of the bowl and strain the oatmeal with the baking powder.
  • Stir in all the ingredients until there remains a not very thick and homogeneous mass.
  • Add the mass to a metal cake pan lined with baking paper.
  • Put it in the oven and leave it for 30-45 min
  • After the time has passed, let it cool a little bit, if you want you can garnish it with a little bit of jam, and it is ready to be served.
Posted on

Pancake de platano – Banana pancake

This recipe is healthybecause it contains bananas instead of sugar which are very rich in potassium and other proteins. Other ingredients like eggs and flour are also very beneficial for us.

Pancake de platano - Banana pancake
Print

Pancake de platano – Banana pancake

Recipe by ESCourse: Dessert, Breakfast
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • ripe banana

  • flour

  • 2 eggs

  • vanilla

  • maple syrup

  • pinch of salt

  • teaspoon of baking powder

Directions

  • Peel the banana and mash it with a fork in a bowl.
  • Add two eggs into the bowl and mix both ingredients together.
  • Pour the flour and the baking powder into the mix.
  • Add a pinch of salt to the mass.
  • Finally, add a little bit of vanilla and keep mixing until you get a homogeneous mixture.
  • Pour the pancake batter into the pan with on medium heat. Wait until the pancake isn’t stuck on the pan and turn it over. When your pancakes are done, you can add some syrup to make them tastier!
Posted on

Tortilla de patatas

This is healthy and important to include in your diet because…

Eggs are a good source of not only proteins, but also vitamins and minerals. Potatoes contain a large deal of carbohydrates (which are essential to provide us energy enough), potassium, water, and fiber. The latter is crucial as it regulates the body’s use of sugars.

If onion is added, as in this case, the meal will have an antioxidant effect and this product contains both purifying and diuretic properties. They favor the elimination of liquids in the organism.

It is important however to regulate the amount of calories, which can be easily dealt with by roasting the potatoes.

Amazing gluten and lactose free meal for the entire family!

Tortilla de patatas
Print

Tortilla de patatas

Recipe by ESCourse: Main
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

35

minutes

Ingredients

  • 200g of onion

  • 6 eggs

  • 400g of potatoes

  • 1 teaspoon of salt

  •  ½ measure of olive oil (typical from Spain)

Directions

  • Wash the onion, peel it and chop it in medium size dices.
  • Clean the potatoes with water, peel them and then chop them in a half moon form with a ½ centimetre thickness.
  • Mix all of it in the skillet and flavour it as you prefer. Fry it for 25-30 minutes at low heat.
  • Withdraw the fry, drain it and clean the skillet with a dry absorbent paper.
  • Reserve the oil for later.
  • Crack the eggs, place them in a large bowl and beat them.
  • Salt them to your liking.
  • Add the potatoes, and the onion and mix well.
  • Put the pan back on the heat, add a splash of the reserved oil, and add the mixture.
  • Stir with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds until the whole mixture starts to curdle.
  • Separate the edges and when you find the omelette cooked enough, place a plate over the pan and turned it over.
  • Serve the potato omelette with two slices of bread with tomato and enjoy!
Posted on

Moussaka sana – Healthy Moussaka

Moussaka sana - Healthy Moussaka
Print

Moussaka sana – Healthy Moussaka

Recipe by ESCourse: Main
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

50

minutes

Ingredients

  • 500g lean minced lamb

  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped

  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed

  • 1½ tsp dried oregano

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 2tbsp plain flour

  • 400g canned chopped tomatoes

  • 2 tbsp tomato purée

  • 2 medium eggplants, each about 275g, cut into 1 cm round slices (ends discarded)

  • 1 tbsp of olive oil

  • Greek yogurt

  • 100g of feta cheese

  • salt + pepper

  • 2 (beaten) eggs

  • Parmesan and emmental cheese (according to your preferences)

Directions

  • Spray a pan with olive oil and gently spread it along with the pan
  • Add the smashed garlic and the chopped onions and actively stir for 5 mins.
  • Add the minced lamb meat and break it into pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until it shows noticeable color.
  • Stir in the salt, sweetener, oregano, cinnamon, and finally a bay leaf in order to season the mixture up.
  • Add the tomato purée. Stir again until thoroughly combined.
  • Cook until the liquid has been reduced. Stirring is only necessary occasionally. Cook for 30 mins.
  • Remove the bay leaf from the mixture and season it with salt (again) and pepper according to your preferences.
  • Let the mix sit for a while on low fire.
  • Meanwhile, slice the eggplant in thin (- 1 cm) pieces. Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
  • Pan-fry the eggplant slices with low-calorie olive oil for about 3-4 mins.
  • Once the eggplant has an external cooked aspect, let them sit on paper towels in order to remove the excessive fats.
  • Let some oil sit on the pan, and add the flour in order to make a paste. Do not stir in all the flour at first, add simultaneously as the paste is being formed.
  • Add in the Greek yogurt and the feta cheese and stir until the paste becomes smooth and fully blended.
  • Remove the pan from the fire and add in the beaten eggs, and prevent the mixture from scrambling.
  • Preheat the oven at a 180 º C temperature.
  • Add a layer of the meat mixture on a porcelain tray. Press it down in order to make it a little more compact.
  • Add a layer of white sauce on top, followed by a layer of eggplants.
  • Lastly, add a new layer of meat, a new eggplant layer, and finally a layer of sauce. Spread some Parmesan and Emmental cheese on top.
  • Bake for 45 minutes, then leave the moussaka sit for at least 15 minutes, cut into pieces and serve.
Posted on

Guacamole casero – Homemade guacamole

Why is it healthy?

This is healthy because avocado is a tropical fruit that helps reduce cholesterol and triglycerides and because of it containing an important amount of monounsaturated fats it helps augment good cholesterol in the blood. Moreover, it is a great natural antioxidant because of its richness in vitamin E, although it’s also rich in vitamins C, K and B6. In addition, it also provides potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and fibre.

Other ingredients that guacamole contain such as tomatoes, lemons, cilantro and onions help fight inflammation, better insulin sensibility and reduce cholesterol quantities in the blood. They are also used as natural antibiotics, to favour digestion and better the immune system.

Guacamole casero - Homemade guacamole
Print

Guacamole casero – Homemade guacamole

Recipe by ESCourse: Sides
Servings

5

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking timeminutes

Ingredients

  • 2 limes

  • 3 avocados

  • cilantro

  • 1 small onion (40 g approx.)

  • 3 tomatoes (75 g approx.)

  • salt

Directions

  • Firstly, cut all the avocados in half.
  • Then remove the core by sticking a knife into it and then turning it to finally remove it and keep aside.
  • Now with the help of a spoon empty the halves and put it in a bowl.
  • With a fork, crush the avocados, but not too much so that it does not look like a purée.
  • Cut the onion and tomato into small cubes and leave them aside.
  • Chop the cilantro into small pieces.
  • Cut both limes in half.
  • Squeeze the lime juice over the mashed avocado.
  • Now add to the crushed avocado the chopped tomato, the chopped onion and the chopped cilantro.
  • Try a bit just to see if it needs more cilantro.
  • Add a pinch of salt and season to preference.
  • Finally, enjoy your homemade guacamole with some nachos.
Posted on

Arroz con leche – Rice with milk

This is healthy because both the milk and the rice are rich in protein and help protect our skin and the cell repair.

Arroz con leche - Rice with milk
Print

Arroz con leche – Rice with milk

Recipe by SPCourse: Main, Dessert
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

50

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 litre of milk

  • 70g of sugar

  • orange and lemon peel

  • vanilla extract

  • 100g of rice

  • cinnamon

Directions

  • Put the milk, the rice, a cinnamon stick and half a vanilla pod in a saucepan.
  • Add the lemon and orange rind. Stir and cook over low heat for 40-45 minutes.
  • Stir every 4-5 minutes so it doesn’t stick.
  • When the rice pudding acquires a syrupy texture, add the sugar.
  • Stir and let cook a little more (5-10 minutes).
Posted on

Verduras a la sarten – Pan-fried vegetables

It’s a healthy recipe because you barely use oil, it has a lot of vegetables and you can use it as an accompaniment to meat in order to have a more balanced meal.

Verduras a la sarten - Pan-fried vegetables
Print

Verduras a la sarten – Pan-fried vegetables

Recipe by SPCourse: Main, Sides
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 red peppers

  • 2 green peppers

  • 1 onion

  • 4 carrots

  • 2 tomatoes

  • 1 spoon of coarse salt

  • a dash of oil

Directions

  • Cut the vegetables into thin strips: the onion especially. The tomatoes should be cut not too thin so they don’t fall apart. You can cut the pepper into thin julienne strips and the carrot, cut it into thin slices so that it cooks well.
  • In a shallow frying pan, pour a splash of oil and heat it. Once it is hot, we will begin to put the vegetables. It is recommended to use a brush to spread the oil on the bottom of the griddle or frying pan so that the vegetables do not stick.
  • Once the oil is hot, spread the vegetables on the bottom of the griddle, without putting one on top of the other. Put coarse salt on top without excess so that they are not too salty. When the vegetables are golden on one side, then we turn them over so they cook evenly.
  • To serve the vegetables, take a flat dish and place them well spread out. We can decorate them with a little parsley in the center or a slice of lemon. This dish must be eaten hot because if it cools the vegetables lose their flavor.
Posted on

What do we eat – how should we eat

In an online survey at their individual schools, students participating in the project answered questions on their eating habits. During the meeting in Germany, students then looked at the results of the survey and deducted recommendations for the future on how to eat better in the future.

The questions included aim at three different topics:

  • “Traditional” eating schedules and eating habits in different countries. The reasoning behind this set of questions is that there are different habits. In some countries, breakfast or lunch are the main meal of the day, in others it’s dinner. The answers to these questions, especially when comparing the answers from different countries, help students to become aware of different cultures. Food and the daily rituals connected to its preparation & consumption touch every single person at a very “deep” level of their individuality. When for example looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs ), food is listed among the basis of physiological needs. When students travelling to another country, living in another family are confronted with different times for main meals, these differences can (if not explained beforehand) create stressful situations, hampering a “perfect” outcome of the mobility.
  • Eating habits of students. What do they eat, consider healthy and what do they know about healthy food.
  • What and where do they (or: their parents) buy food. This aims at the environmental aspect of food shopping. Not mentioned is organic food (which might be too obvious). Instead, there’s one question as to where they buy their veggies (for example, if food is bought at a farmers’ market this more likely is regional food which would mean a lower carbon footprint). Another question asked about fruits and vegetables they/their family bought in the two months before taking the survey (i.e. in late winter / early spring). The examples listed can (during the European winter) only be imported from the southern hemisphere (e.g. South Africa, Costa Rica, Brazil, …). So if someone had bought for example grapes this would not be environmentally friendly.
Posted on

Food of the Future

At the Futurium in Berlin, students worked in groups on several topics. In the exhibit, they collected information and pictures on their topic. These findings were than used to incorporate into further work and to create posters on several topics.

Presented here are the tasks and some of the results.

Where will our food come from in the future?

Agriculture: Growing food (vegetables, grain, fruits, …) on traditional fields is so 19th century.

  • Where will we plant, grow and harvest our food in the future?
  • Can we also modernize fish production in a similar way?

Farming / food production on a farm /
a more natural and social way to produce food

Traditionally, farmers produce their food, bring it to the market (either a small farmers market or a big distribution center) and hope they can sell their produce. They also hope to get enough money / to not go bankrupt. If they can’t sell their food, they have to throw it out. Big farms today rarely come into contact with us, the consumers. We as customers usually don’t have any contact with the farms and farmers. We have become distanced from our food.

How could a farm also be organized (today or in the future). In the future, there might be a more communal concept of agriculture: What is it called, what’s the concept behind it, how is it organised, how do people get involved, …?

Food from the laboratory /
Improving and enhancing our food with the help of science

  • Can science, scientific development, research help with the food we eat?
  • From the laboratory onto the field? Is that possible? If yes: How? Are there examples?
  • Genome editing

Environment and sustainability

  • Current environmental problems connected to food / farming / …
  • Possible ways to make producing food, shopping for food and eating food better for the environment.
  • What can we as individuals do? Can science help?

Current problems in food production

  • Monopolies, transport and energy consumption
  • “Hidden” costs / ecological costs
  • …
  • Are there suggestions to solve these problems?

Meat production

Humanity does not only eat vegetables, fruit & grain. We are omnivores.

  • Is there a better way to produce meat?
  • Where could the meat of the future come from?
  • A lot of research is still needed in the area: Which open questions are there?

Artificial, chemical, and virtual food

  • What’s that?
  • Can you eat it?
  • How is it produced, consumed, …?
Posted on

Food Waste & Food Art

In the back of food pantries, fridges and kitchen cabinets of (too) many households, one can find food that has gone past its expiration date. Usually, that’s no problem as it is possible to eat food beyond the “Best before” date – after all, most food is still edible a few days (sometimes even weeks) after this date.

But in the same cupboards, there can be almost “historic” finds of food that has been waiting to be used for years and years… Most likely not edible anymore. A lot of food gets wasted without ever being eaten.

In this exercise, students had the choice of either creating food art with “donations” of food that was no longer good for consumption – or to work theoretically on the topic of food waste.

Why is food waste a problem?
Food art
Food art